Breastfeeding in Public Still Feels Like a Risk

“Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice from parents who have gone through something similar. My baby is 5 months old. I have been mostly expressing breast milk and feeding him by bottle , but I really want to transition him back to breastfeeding and eventually stop using bottles. He was latching a couple of days ago, but now he refuses the breast. When I offer it, he cries. I tried different positions, including a laid-back, swing position, but he sometimes just chews on the nipple instead of sucki”

“Heya I’ve been exclusively breastfeeding my 6 month old, but need to get her on the bottle as I’m going back to work soon and she’s starting daycare. She either refuses the bottle, or bites it a few times then starts spitting out the contents. Does anyone have advice or some magic wisdom on how to get baby to take the bottle? Techniques tried: Breastmilk and two different types of formula. Spoon feeding Sippy cup Bottle with handles she can hold Three different sizes and shaped teats Two differe”

“EBF 7 month old who gets one middle of night bottle by dad. For the past 2 weeks, he’s been nursing a lot more quickly (5-10 mins), which I’ve read happens as they’re older. However, I always start him on the right and he drinks for a few mins then won’t relatch. He actively turns away. But then eagerly latches onto the left side. At any point during that nursing session, he won’t take the right. For his bedtime feed, I was concerned he wasn’t full enough for bed so after breastfeeding as normal”

“My 4.5 month old seems to not want to feed anymore unless he’s sleepy or just woken up from a nap etc. I always go into a dark boring room. When I put him to the boob if he hasn’t eaten in a while (ie 1 hr cos he used to feed so frequently) he grunts or cries in the day and looks around and pushes his head around. I think he’s distracted which is a normal milestone but is this normal? submitted by /u/ComfortableSpot6760 [link] [comments]”

“My 7mo breastfed baby still nurses or takes a bottle every 2.5-3 hours even through the night. She’s about 70th percentile for weight- never had any issues gaining weight… Is this out of habit or is this a normal frequency for her age? submitted by /u/thinkin9outloud [link] [comments]”

“My daughter is 3.5 months old and is exclusively breastfed (she also gets two 60ml bottles of expressed milk a day, mainly so she’ll continue taking a bottle). Since the beginning, she’s always been a long feeder. In the newborn days, feeds could easily go 45+ minutes. That’s definitely improved, but even now most feeds are still around 25–35 minutes. I’m confused about whether she’s genuinely a slow/inefficient feeder or whether she’s actually getting full sooner and just enjoys staying on the”

“I currently have a 2.5 week old newborn who has been unable to latch to my nipples without a nipple shield, the lactation consultant said it’s due to flat nipples and tough tissue around my nipples, has anyone successfully managed to get a baby to latch in time without shields? I’ve already had to switch to bottles of expressed milk for majority of feeds as the shields aren’t the best at night and get whacked off and baby fusses more and gets all upset 😢 submitted by /u/Cute_Star_77”

“Is it normal for babe to cluster feed every single day? I have a 3 week old and every day, usually evening time, we cluster feed for like 2 hours. Not complaining - I love that baby loves and finds comfort in me. Just curious if it’s normal/okay for it to happen every single day? Baby won’t take a pacifier if that relevant. submitted by /u/EspressoAndSourdough [link] [comments]”

“My 8 week old is breast fed, we’ll nurse typically every other night throughout the night and sometimes more if I feel like my nips can handle it, and pump the rest of the time. My issue is that he clamps down on my nipple so hard it still hurts so much sometimes, and I’m TERRIFIED for when he has teeth. I genuinely think he might bite my nipple off when he has teeth. I don’t want to exclusively pump because I love the convenience of nursing, and the connection it gives us, but has anyone else h”

“Baby is 10 days old (She’s being bottle fed in between) submitted by /u/EconomicsReal545 [link] [comments]”

“When my 10 week old wakes up in the middle of the night, I immediately offer my boob. I don’t even know if he is hungry, sometimes he eats a full feed, sometimes he only eats for like 5 minutes before falling back asleep again. My question is, if he wakes more than once, is it still fine to do? Or should I be attempting to soothe him first if I know he just ate like an hour prior? Last night, he woke up 3 times and twice I offered a feed immediately. The one in between I attempted to soothe him”

“Hi! As the title suggests, I am really struggling with a letdown during my nighttime feed. It’s the only feed I really have this issue. (Sometimes when I’m on my period, It happens a few times during daytime feeds, too) My son with be 7 months in a week! Exclusively breastfeeding. A couple weeks ago, I did start giving him a small bottle of pumped milk in addition to his last feed before bed. (I pump every night after he goes to bed). I’ve done Reddit-research on tips but I’m just asking again i”

“I’m currently trying to get my 6mo to at least TRY the bottle. She’s been EBF apart from when she was born and my milk hadn’t quite come in yet. I’ve tried the husband giving it to her, 3 different types of bottles and various teets, formula and breast milk, ive tried feeding her from my nipple and then trying to switch it to the bottle in her mouth in the dark but she’s rejecting everything. I don’t want to go completely off the boob but would love to be able to leave her with the in-laws/or my”

“Has anyone switched from combo nursing/pumping to exclusively nursing? And did this affect your supply at all? Our daughter is 3.5 months old and we've been doing both nursing and feeding from a bottle since we got home from the hospital. I usually nurse during the day and my husband feeds pumped milk at night when he's home. We mostly bottle feed on weekends. This week we only fed from bottles from Thursday-Tuesday, and she did fine. No issues at all. I nursed her yesterday during the d”

“hey everyone! my baby boy is 8 weeks old and I’ve been exclusively breastfeeding him since almost day one (he was combo fed for the first week of his life - I breastfed, pumped and fed him formula). later on, with the support of my lactaction consultant, I switched to breastfeeding him only. so far I haven’t built any freezer stash and I haven’t pumped or given him bottle since then. lately I’ve been thinking about introducing a bottle to him again because I am so anxious whenever I have to leav”

“My LO is almost 12 weeks old, minus some issues in the beginning breastfeeding is going well! I pump 2x a day right now and my morning pump is given to her via bottle from my husband at night before bed. She is sleeping right now from like 9:30-4:45, feeds, and then back to sleep until like 8:15/8:30am. She keeps dozing off sooner around like 8/8:30 and I’m wondering if we should start to make her bedtime earlier and if I should drop the bottle and just breastfeed her at that time (and still pum”

“my babe is about 4 weeks old and we’ve been exclusively breast feeding, just starting to introduce a snack bottle now and then to practice the skill I have been doing nights alone since i have the boobs but now that’s she’s sleeping longer stretches i’m wondering about having dad do some bedtime so they both get used to it. the issue is i basically nurse until she’s good and sleepy then rock her and transfer to the bassinet. how have others gone about getting dad in on bedtime routine? sub”

“Hi. So I'm at might wits end and incredibly frustrated. I've got a premature one month old. She was born early at 34 weeks in June and she stayed in the NICU for 23 days. We got her home a couple of weeks ago. Firsr few days she was eating reluctantly but nothing major. The pediatrician upped her dose from 60 to 90 ml, not to eat it all at once, just to have her get more than 60. Problem is last few days she will not drink over 40-45 at her night feeds. The moment the bottle leaves her m”

“Hi all, my baby girl is 4 months and has been fed both by breast and bottle since birth without issue. A week ago, I went to breastfeed her as usual and she freaked out. Stiff body, crying, pushing away. She wouldn’t even attempt to latch. A few weeks before that, she decided she no longer wanted bottles from my husband and would only take milk from me. And now she will only take it via bottle. Feeling really defeated here. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what helped your baby to take the br”

“Hi everyone! Looking for some advice from anyone who’s done something similar. My son is 4 months old and has been exclusively breastfed during the day and night. We recently started working with a pediatric sleep consultant because he had a very strong nurse-to-sleep/suck-to-sleep association . He was waking every 1–2 hours overnight to snack himself back to bed and would only fall back asleep by nursing. We’ve started a new sleep plan where I’m no longer nursing him back to sleep overnight. In”

“My LO (5 weeks) has a strong witching hour(s) every evening where she squirms around, cries and constantly wants to be on one of my nipples. I get that she is comfort seeking, probably overly tired and potentially cluster feeding but the problem is that she’ll refuse the other nipple and scream every time you take her off the preferred one. She also seems, just when she’s doing this, to only latch very shallowly and flutter suck so it feels like there’s thousands of tiny needles being thrust int”

“My 7 month old baby absolutely will not fall asleep without nursing. I have tried so many things and she freaks out for my boob every time. I am away from my husband for a few months so I don’t have anyone else to help get her to sleep. Her first tooth just came in and when I try nursing her to sleep she bites my nipple and pulls on it and it is sooo painful!! I always take my boob away but then she is wide awake and the nap progress is ruined. Any advice? submitted by /u/dankybabe [”

“Looking to hear if anyone’s been on a similar journey and how it turned out for you. My BF journey had a bit of a rocky start after a tricky birth, a sleepy baby, tongue-tie and potential breast hypoplasia, so, we had to introduce formula very early on and I haven’t been able to EBF. However, things have massively improved and since about 6 weeks (baby is 12 weeks now), I’ve been breastfeeding every feed with a small formula top up (between 30-90ml). We’ve gone from about 600ml of top-ups a day”

“I have 3 weeks old baby. I love breast feeding but there’s so many information out there, I just don’t want to do anything harmful for my baby. During the day one or two times my baby would want to nurse to go to sleep for an hour. I’m okay with it. Is it okay for the baby? Other than that My baby usually sleeps well- I would nurse him for about 20mins, his dad changes his diaper and he goes right back to sleep. submitted by /u/Gardeninginnh [link] [comments]”

“My baby is currently teething and as a result is completely rejecting my nipple. We were combo feeding to help with some colic issues and for the past few days she has been rejecting breastfeeding after a minute or two of going back and forth between nipples. They are currently only drinking from a bottle. For some reason pumping does not work well for me, so as a result my supply is going down quickly and I'm constantly sore. This is really affecting my mental health as well so if anyone ha”

“My first is a couple years older than our new baby, born 03/18 so just at 4 months. With our eldest we formula fed, I had a medical condition that affected my supply two weeks PP and was too discouraged to try to get it back. We also sleep trained, I am co sleeping and breastfeeding this baby, so polar opposites. I don’t think he likes any of it, I think he views breastfeeding as a choice instead of a sacrifice, he can’t get baby to sleep unless he takes her on a drive, and her irregular sleep h”

“Back story: my baby girl is soon to be 3 months and we’ve always had problems breastfeeding. At only a few hours old, she would fall asleep at the boob and i would have to supplement with formula. Once she was back to her birth weight, i tried the boob again but she would get really frustrated and i would have to pump and give her a bottle. I would try relatch again and again but she and i would only get frustrated so i always gave her a bottle. There was one glorious week in June that she took”

“I might be completely stupid but I don’t even know when and how but over the weeks I somehow slipped into just doing the cycle of baby sleeps, plays eats I think. My baby is ten weeks old and I just realised that I maybe feed her on instinct rather than demand? Now we are experiencing a nursing strike and I am realising I can’t read my babies cues for hunger? submitted by /u/Pristine-Surprise919 [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone! I'm looking to see if anyone else has gone through something similar. We're in the process of transitioning our 2.5-month-old from exclusively breastfeeding to bottles. We started introducing bottles a couple of weeks ago, but only occasionally. At first, she would only take a bottle from Dad. Today was a huge win because she finally took one from me (Mom)! Right now, though, she'll only drink about 1–2 oz from the bottle before she's done. She nurses well at the bre”

“I am trying to breastfeed. Baby has been frustrated at the breast most of the day, so we decided to give some pumped milk and he took 2 ounces in addition to whatever he got from my breasts. I was shocked, but now he still seems frustrated and like he could take even more?? Is it possible that bottle feeding breast milk could be giving him too much? I know you cant overfeed when breastfeeding but what about from the bottle? Im debating giving another ounce because he drank the previous 2 ounces”

“Hi! Rant followed by question for folks who had trouble getting baby to accept bottle. Thanks in advance! EBF daughter, 10 weeks tomorrow, has intermittently taken ~1 oz from a bottle but can’t figure out rhyme or reason to why/when. Previously took Lansinoh (slow flow as a newborn, with formula, a few times to get back up to birth weight) then no bottle til 6 weeks. I have a VERY fast letdown (when I pump there’s usually milk in the 2nd suck of the massage mode) and we struggled with her pullin”

“For context: I had a baby last year who had a lip tie that was not picked up and a shallow latch that got dismissed for almost 2 weeks. I didn't pump during this time as I was focused on putting bub to the breast. I was triple feeding for months, and then just pumping every 2-3 hours until she was 6 months when I finally gave up. I only ever produced 1/3 to 1/2 of the volume she actually needed despite eating all the oats, brewers yeast, oversupply of calories, anything I could try. I was on”

“So my LO is almost 7 months and typically has to nurse to sleep. He wasn’t able to do that (or even breastfeed) till late April after I had a major surgery. Turns out the issue I was having with my gallbladder was making my letdown really difficult to trigger and even more difficult to have any type of supply so after the surgery almost immediately we were able to breastfeed overnight and nursing for getting him to sleep. Problem is his father had him over the weekend and said I had gotten him u”

“Hey mamas. She's 6 months old now. Since birth, I've had to not breastfeed at night (I pump and keep in the fridge) because my toddler totally used to lose it when she saw me breastfeeding the baby -- and then no one got any sleep at all -- so my husband would offer the bottle with my pumped milk at night. Then I had to go back to work so she got even more exposure to the bottle. Soon enough she stopped putting my nipple in her mouth. She would latch then pull away crying. In fact now sh”

“I have a 7 week old who was 6lbs 2oz at birth. He regained his birth weight within one week and puts on approx. 0.5lbs a week. He is EBF I wake him every 4 hours during the night - which equates to: Feed at 11pm and go to bed Wake at 3am and feed Wake at 7am and feed, and stay up for the day My Q is - when can I drop the 3am? When can I drop the alarm and let my baby wake me? I am unsure if he would wake on his own as he is very placid and I usually wake up the baby rather than he waking me befo”

“I know there’s a growth spurt at 6 weeks, but this seems like more than that and has been going on for at least a couple weeks. I have been exclusively breastfeeding my 6 week old since birth. I had an oversupply in the beginning, and then after 3 weeks or so I noticed that I was barely keeping up and started to panic that my supply was decreasing. I think it’s actually that her appetite is really crazy. I went in for a lactation consultant appointment when she was 4w4d and she weighed 10 lb 1 o”

“How are you staying awake for overnight feeds? I’m 8 weeks PP. I’m tired. My baby takes 2 feeds overnight. A lot of times I fall asleep while baby is nursing and baby slips off the boob. Or I fall asleep before offering the second boob. Then when I wake up, 60-90 mins have passed and the feed is incomplete. So I start over just in case. I’ve tried alarms and timers but sometimes I fall asleep before I finish setting them. This is very frustrating. Any tips? submitted by /u/Fine-Luck-”

“Hi, hoping someone can help me because I’m stumped. My 3 month old has been exclusively bottle fed because of delayed milk / milk transfer issues as a newborn, so I have been pumping. I just started additional leave and thought I’d try adding more direct BF sessions which has been going well(!) but now baby is absolutely refusing the bottle. I’ve tried warming the milk, using fresher milk (I do have high lipase), different positions, different bottles and nothing is working. Has anyone experienc”

“For context, my baby is 17 weeks and 3 days old. The only reliable way I can get her to take a full feeding right now is by giving her expressed milk in a bottle, which I really don't want to rely on. My goal is to exclusively breastfeed directly from the breast. She has been evaluated and has no tongue or lip ties or other oral issues. She does have some tension on the left side of her neck from being born OP. Over the past few weeks, breastfeeding has become increasingly difficult. She has”

“My LO is 12 weeks and somehow miraculously sleeping 7:30-7:30. Occasionally she wakes up around 2:30 for a snack. I try to pump using my hand pump before I go to sleep around 9:30. Is that okay? Or do I need to pump again in the middle of the night? Just don’t want my supply to drop or to get mastitis. She’s gaining weight fine so the doctor is fine with her not eating at night submitted by /u/BasisStunning6754 [link] [comments]”

“breastfeeding is one of the most emotionally taxing things I’ve ever done in my life! my milk didn’t come in until day 5 and my baby lost too much weight. we started supplementing with formula per our pediatrician‘s recommendation around 1 week old. my supply was low. I tried everything: working with a IBCLC, changing my diet, taking herbs & supplements, triple feeding, pumping around the clock. nothing really helped and I was only ever able to pump 1-1.5oz total ever. I really wanted to giv”

“I’m going back to work Monday and my EBF 12 week old kid hasn’t taken to a bottle yet. We’ve been trying for weeks. she took a bottle a few times the first week, and since then hasn’t at all. We’ve done all of the things the pediatrician suggested and had a lactation consultant check her out. According to them she’s fine but has a bit of an oral aversion (won’t take a paci either). They said she might just have to get hangry enough to drink from the bottle. It’ll be my milk as I’ll be pumping at”

“Baby has started to sleep longer stretches again (5 hrs)and would take only one boob during the night feed then drift off again. I’m feeling a little full on the other boob. Should I pump it or just wait for the morning feed? Catch is - I’ve just finished my antibiotics for mastitis and TERRIFIED to go through that again. And I don’t want an oversupply (that I might trigger if I pump the other boob in the motn) Thoughts for this anxious mom? submitted by /u/lavendercedarwood [link] &”

“Hello! I have a 4 day old little girl and had a c section. My milk really came in yesterday and REALLY came in! My little one is only feeding from one side and then is asleep and despite many efforts, will not nurse from the other side. I’m very engorged to say the least. After the feed this morning I pumped and pumped about 7oz which I know is WAY too much for her. I know it’s not uncommon to have an oversupply at the beginning as your body is adjusting. However, I’m wondering if she’s getting”

“My baby’s pediatrician and lactation consultant told me to stop setting alarms overnight to wake for feeds because I was setting them every four hours. I finally didn’t the night before last night and he slept 5.5 hours, woke up and ate and then slept another 2.5. I was really nervous but also excited. But today he slept 7 hours straight! 7.5 hours between feeds and it just makes me so nervous! I feel like he’s so hungry but he didn’t cry a lot when he woke up. Is this bad for his blood sugar th”

“Hey all, first time poster looking for advice. I am at my wits end with feeding my baby. They’re six months old and will only take a bottle right before they either nap/sleep. they will not take a bottle any other time or anywhere but in their room. they adamantly refuse it anywhere else. I’ve tried giving it to them while playing, while snuggling etc, they will not take it unless they are tired. they’re now dropping a nap and going to 2 naps a day, which means they are only getting 600 mls of f”

“My now 7 month old baby would feed every 1.5-2 he’s last month. He got 2 bottom teeth and started biting so much that i started bleeding and stopped latching him every time he was hungry only when he is sleepy or crying . I tried to give him bottle which he refused. Solids also is been real challenge he doesn’t eat anything. Will take first bite to taste and nothing. Last 2-3 days he is refusing to latch. Today he hasn’t in hours and has bitten when I tried to when he was sleepy. He has less wet”

“EBF 7 month old will only feed to sleep with me. My husband can get her down, and on the very odd occasion my mother can, but no matter what I try, she will not go to sleep unless I’m feeding her. I’m talking hours of attempts. I know all the tricks, as my eldest was a shocking sleeper too, but at least she would let me put her down without the boob. My question is, is this really a problem? Will she eventually just figure it out? I know it’s because I smell like food, and I don’t plan on weanin”

“I’m at my breaking point with breastfeeding my 16 month old. Any advice? My son is 16 months old and he’s still breastfeeding. He nurses many times throughout the day, and at night he wakes up every 1.5-2 hours. I honestly can’t keep up with all the night wakings anymore. I’m chronically sleep deprived, and during the day I can’t be the kind of mom I want to be. I notice that I’m mentally checked out, exhausted, and just not functioning well. It doesn’t help that he’s an extremely demanding todd”

“I am about 2 weeks postpartum and had been EBF, but this week my husband and I decided to have him feed our soon once or twice at night with a bottle so I can get more rest. I was a bad sleeper even before pp and pregnancy so I can only sleep about an hour at a time with these 3 hours increments, even when baby would feed, burp, and fall asleep fast. Well two days after sleeping for 6 hours straight through the night I found out I need to be pumping every 2-3 hours to establish/sustain my supply”

“As in, how many feeds per day? My bub is big into his solids, and has *just* started taking bottles of formula. So while we generally have 6 or 7 feeds per day (depending on number of night wakes), two of those are now going to be formula as I’m back at work. Just curious how much others with 9 months old are feeding? Is 4 breast milk feeds a day ‘enough’? Is it okay to start tapering down at this point? (I’m hoping to finish BFing when he turns one). submitted by /u/cunncunncunn [li”

“I feel like a failure. My baby would latch while in the hospital but my supply had not come in yet and since we have been home she won’t latch at all. I feel like it’s my fault because she has been mostly formula fed because my supply didn’t come in until after we got home. Need advice on how to fix this because right now I hate myself because it feels like I’m just torturing her every time I try to breastfeed her. submitted by /u/jen_dan [link] [comments]”

“My little one is 12 weeks old. She’s exclusively breastfed, but will take a Lansinoh bottle from me. However, she refuses it from anyone else. Just screams and won’t even attempt it. I’ve tried putting my shirt near her for scent, leaving the house, staying near, different positions. I just don’t know what to do. I go back to work in about a month. I’m afraid she’s going to go all day at daycare and starve… submitted by /u/BasisStunning6754 [link] [comments]”

“In an effort to get more rest, my husband did a middle of the night bottle feed for our 3 week old last night. Now I know, I know. Pump if they take a bottle, supply is still building for the first 6 weeks, etc. But I thought ONE feed wouldn’t mess things up so much. Our Lactaction consultant had advised to never go more than 5 hours without pumping/feeding. Admittedly I did go about 6 between the start of my last feed to the next one after my husband gave the bottle (cause LO is starting to sle”

“My baby girl is 10.5 months old, my goal is to breastfeed until she’s 2. We cosleep and she’s latched basically all night. She has 6 teeth with 4 more on the way, and as she sleeps her latch gets super shallow and she bites me all night long. Plus she’s waking up every 2 hours still, my mental health is hanging on by a thread… I’m considering night weaning. I would be fine with stopping cosleeping, she’s in her own room on a floor bed already and I just join her when I’m ready for bed since she”

“My three month old was honestly perfect few weeks back, she would feed well and sleep long and during the wake windows, she would play and smile. But since she turned 3, she started refusing my breast, but she would when I am standing or lying down. Now she doesn’t take at all, unless she is drowsy or in the nights. Giving her formula and pumping, but she cranky pretty much the entire day, and with the whole pumping and washing and sterilizing, it feels like the first month all over again. Pleas”

“3 month old baby gets sleepy at breast. Been Working with IBCLC/SLP on exercises for a month, and he’s gained weight but he’s now regressing and taking 2.4oz total after 25mins for his last two feeds , 11am and 1:15pm. I’m exhausted and demoralized and can’t keep going like this. submitted by /u/Altruistic-Ratio-701 [link] [comments]”

“My baby is 13 weeks, and from 7 weeks onwards, after my supply regulated, breastfeeding has become a struggle. LO is impatient to work for the letdown, gets super frustrated quickly when no milk is flowing, and I believe now has a negative association with the breast altogether. I tried ALL the tips, breastfeeding in a dark room, massaging or pumping until shortly before letdown, different positions, nursing when sleepy or fully asleep, try to relax etc, I can make it work, but it’s not enjoyabl”

“My baby is 2 months old and has been on formula since day 4 due to weight loss. He was completely sleepy and impossible to awake on its first week, probably due to the drugs they gave to me(since before that he had energy latching). Then he started having trouble latching...at day 5 it was impossible for him so my milk supply started to decrease. I bought a bomb, of course and went to a lactation consultant. She was not able to help. She said that he needed some work on the neck due to tensions”